Field of the Invention
The exemplary embodiment(s) of the present invention relates to a transportation apparatus and a method thereof. More specifically, the exemplary embodiment(s) of the present invention relates to a high speed sample transportation apparatus in a superconducting magnet and transporting method thereof.
Description of Related Art
In recent years, the issue for transporting samples between different positions of a superconducting magnet with different magnetic field strength has been discussed. Alfred G. Redfield provided a field cycling device by pneumatic control in 2003 (A. G. Redfield, Shuttling device for high-resolution measurements of relaxation and related phenomena in solution at low field, using a shared commercial 500 MHz NMR instrument, Magnetic Resonance in Chemistry, 41 (2003) 753-768.). This design used the abrupt air pressure change to shuttle the sample inside a long glass tube. The sample stop by colliding with an O-ring buffered stopper. The pneumatic design can achieve higher speed but at the expense of system instability due to abrupt start-stop mechanism. Samples are subjected to large g-forces in short time that generate mechanical instability causing sample bubbling and degradation.
Also, Alfred G. Redfield provided a mechanical design in 2012 (A. Redfield, High-resolution NMR field-cycling device for full-range relaxation and structural studies of biopolymers on a shared commercial instrument, Journal of Biomolecular NMR, 52 (2012) 159-177). This design employs an externally mounted mechanical motor, coupled with a long rod, to move the sample up-down the magnet. Even though this prior art employed motor power as driving force, the pulleys and transmission mechanism are all mounted outside of the magnet. Thus, it requires large space above the magnet for installation. In addition, a long rod that holds the sample tube oscillating during and after the shuttling. The oscillation of the rod causes sample to vibrate in magnetic field. For applications that require precise magnetic field, additional waiting time is needed before any test can be started.
Thus, for the demand, designing a high speed sample transportation apparatus in a superconducting magnet and transporting method thereof for effectively transporting a sample in a superconducting magnet has become an important issue for the application in the field.